Drakes Rose
by Adore-Aku
Summary: Sixteen year old male dragon, Drake is summoned to battle in the War of the Realms, but when he fails his 'mission', a younger female who dislikes greatly, is the only one to come to his aid... NB: this does not contain Spyro, just started out that way
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Listening to the fierce roars of agony, with a smirk of tinted wickedness upon his face, the orc lurched forward on the large dragon once more, delivering the final blow to the beasts' front left leg, leaving him to call out in pain. The orcs' grin grew wider, and bared his dark teeth, as the dragon slowly fell to the ground, groaning mournfully, feeling self pity as he drew his final breaths. He had failed himself, and the villagers he cared for. The younger dragons had no one to protect them any longer, and because of this, the foulest dragon was free to take all of the young ones within his grasp and tear them limb from limb. Inhaling deeply, the dragon rolled onto his stomach, and stared into those ruby eyes of the gnorc.

The orcs eyes filled with confusion and hatred, and his evil smirk faltered, and quickly became a frown, as he raised his mallet, the smile of malice returned. The orcs tongue slid slowly over his teeth, as he drew in all the oxygen he required. The mallet was lifted high into the air, causing the green coloured creature to raise his heels off of the ground, to help gather his strength. His feet returned quickly to ground level, and he violently brought down his weapon, his heart beat quickening as he realised that his victory was only seconds away.

Rolling onto his back, the dragon flinched as the ground vibrated. The mallet came down harshly on the ground, sending a wave of pain searing up the enemies arm. As the orc fell backwards, losing his grip on his weapon. The dragon took to his feet, snarling viciously, baring his sharp teeth to the orc that stood before him. Taking a few steps forward, the dragon limped to the mallet, and placed one foot over it, indenting the wood with just the use of one claw.

The orc gazed fearfully upon the deep blue scaled dragon, trying hard to return that cold hard stare that he gave him, with his large, emerald green eyes. But it was almost impossible for the green orc to defeat him. The sapphire blue scales of the dragon embedded themselves deeper into the wooden mallet, as a grin almost as evil as the orcs, appeared on his face. The dragons' opponent looked him straight in the eye, but he didn't even flinch, but rather just narrowed his own.

Growling, the dragon threw himself at the gnorc, who quickly scrambled to his feet and scurried off towards his mallet, and raised it one hand. Unfolding his wings, the young dragon flapped wildly, trying to save himself from another injury. Hovering in midair, he turned to face the orc, who looked out of breath, yet still held a fighting pose.

"You can't attack," the dragon spoke clearly, in his low voice, "your weapon is too badly damaged."

The orc glared at him, and he returned the hard stare. The two caught each others eye contact, and held it firmly. Neither of them wanted to admit defeat, yet both had been weakened. For the orc, he was defenceless; his weapon had a large crack in, and was held together with only the odd few splinters. The dragon didn't have a weapon either, yet that wasn't his problem. He had been physically damaged, his leg had suffered serious blows, and both beasts had thought he had met his end, yet Drake was a survivor, nothing would take him down.

The orc grunted and broke contact, making the larger animal think he'd won. Smiling smugly to himself, Drake wondered whether or not he dared to take a look at the wound on his leg. He didn't have long to think about it though, as when he looked up, he saw orc grinning, holding the broken mallet behind him like a bat.

"Be gone, you are no longer welcome on these premises," Drake stated bluntly.

The orc stood staring at him, and then with mighty strength, hurled his mallet towards the shining dragon. He dived quickly, trying to dodge the weapon, yet didn't quite make it. The mallet struck his neck, and bounced slowly down to his already, badly bruised leg. Both weapon and dragon hit the ground with a large thump.

Drake lay upon the ground, chest heaving, blood racing, and mind swirling. He thought about the younger dragons of the village, running around, enjoying life for the last time, before the orcs took over. He could picture them in his mind: chasing each other round in circles, attempting to breath fire, trying to fly, laughing with joy… sadness filled the teenaged dragon as he lay upon the ground. What had he done to deserve death at the young age of sixteen? He had severely lowered the villages' defences, and for that he must stand alone and face whatever fate has in store for him.

Her violet claws marked the ground as she walked, leaving small holes in the dirt. The skeletons of many of her race scattered the roads, and the crows above cawed as if the world was caving in on them. The sky was bleached red from the recent battle, and so were the dead oaks. The dragoness sighed as she turned off of the main path and on into the forest, walking along the edge of the river. Which was surprisingly clear of blood, she took caution as she walked along, hoping not to get ambushed by any remaining enemies. She hadn't taken part in the battle, mainly because at fifteen, she was too young. The main War of the Realms took both male and female dragons to their death, but left her quite alright in the village with the other under sixteen year olds. The war had been between the rhynocs and the dragons. The dragons were fighting in hope that the realms would one day be clear of danger for the dragon lings. The rhynocs were fighting for their master, a dragon who had turned evil, who considered himself 'King' of the realms. One day, the young dragoness hoped to spit on his grave, to want to defeat him, once and for all. He and his minions had won the War of the Realms, but he won't defeat her. She just needed to find someone, ready to help a dragoness in need. She sat by the river, curling her grey scaled tail around her feet, the red tip tapping gently against her leg. Slowly closing her emerald green eyes, and adjusted the fake blue flower by her right horn, she drifted off into the world of her own imagination, letting herself let go of the sad world she was in, where beasts took each other to the grave, and said goodbye to life. Throwing everything away, wasting their lives and others. Letting her mind flow free, she fell into a world unknown by daylight.

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_Whipping around the corner in a whirl of dust, the young dragoness chased the older, more muscular, male dragon. She growled fiercely as he ducked her sudden jump, thrashing his tail against her stomach as he turned, just missing the painful scrape of her claws against his scales. The dragoness landed with a cry as she was hammered by the teenaged dragon, yet she desperately tried to hide the pain. Taking quickly to her feet, she tossed her head back, and then lowered her upper body into a crouching position._

_She had to take him down, she needed to do this. He had questioned the beliefs of her race and for this he must die. The Dark Knight Dragons must prevail, despite their sour tempers, and those who believed they could stand up to them we're to be punished. _

_Standing tall, the male dragon stepped forward, spreading his wings out._

"_Why, do you want to hunt me down like a rat?" he hissed at the dragoness._

_The grey scaled female stepped forward, and relaxed her body slightly. She stared at him through narrowed eyes, trying to hide her true emotions. She feared him, yet wanted revenge. It was because of him that she was like this, and she was determined to defeat him, no one else would get the better of him before her. _

"_Hunt you down? No, Drake, I want to destroy you!" she replied stormily, arching her back higher as she once more lowered herself to the ground, until her chest hit the dirt._

_The blue scaled dragon watched her actions, taking into account that this dragoness was furious, and no one wants to face a female when she has been angered. _

"_Why would you want to kill me, young one?" Drake said calmly, even though inside he was raging, why was she mad with him?_

_The dragoness couldn't take this anymore, she was too impatient to just sit around and wait. She raised her hind legs a little higher, and then pounced on the dragon. She let one of her claws slide down his face, and let it collide with eye. _

"_Never underestimate me or my decisions," she said fiercely as she landed, as a scream was heard. She directed her attention to Drake, it was coming from him, but why did it sound so far off…?_

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The grey scaled dragoness opened her eyes quickly, and took to her feet. Listening closely, she felt her heart skip a beat as a mournful cry spread over the lands. If anyone could recognise that scream of terror, it was her.

'_I may have dreamt the racial comments towards my race_,' she thought to herself, '_but I still feel hatred towards him, the arrogant beast_.'

Taking action, the dragoness swiftly darted out of the dense forest, swerving between trees with incredible ease. Several crows dived at her, giving of a high pitched, but she dodged them, trying to block out the sound, and was still moving at a rapid pace.

The further towards the edge of the forest the fifteen year old got, the louder the howls of agony became. Jumping onto a low branch, the dragoness reached the end of the dense area, yet still stood in hiding. From the tree she could see just a vast wasteland of dragon and orc skeletons, she had reached the battle scene of the War of the Realms.

"I'll save you Drake," she muttered as she scanned the landscape.

Spotting him not far off, the dragoness jumped back to the ground, and dodged corpses as she raced through the soon to be graveyard for those who had died in this battle.

She skidded to a halt before the blue scaled dragon, scanning his body for injury. Apart from one leg, he just seemed to be exhausted. She leant down by his front left leg, examining it. It was badly bruised, and blood was pouring out of the wound quickly. Drake winced as the female touched a tender area, and she smirked at him.

"Hey, careful Roza!" he yelled as the pain became worse, and tried to draw back his leg, but the dragoness just squeezed his leg tighter.

"Quiet you," she hissed, "You should be glad I'm here."

He stared hard at Roza as she tried to heal some of the minor wounds, using the Chaotix magic. A strong power that Dark Knight Dragons possessed, it was extremely powerful, yet it wasn't a benefit during battle.

Drake withdrew his leg once the dragoness had finished, not willing to stay near her any longer than he had too. Attempting to stand, the dragon roared with pain, and his front leg gave way.

"It's broken; you'll have to just fly back to the village," Roza said, turning away from him, "We should be back in at least half an hour."

Drake grunted rudely, and took flight, but went at a slow speed. He stayed low too, as even though he disliked the dragoness, it would be best for the two to stay together, neither of them knew whether or not there were still enemies on the battle field.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter: 2**

Pain surged through his body, tearing him apart from the inside. His blood slowly began to boil as he thought of the damage that orc had done to him, before prancing off victorious to his leader with a broken weapon. He could have done anything to stop that dragon, but he didn't, he was afraid of the deep blue mass of scales that was Drake. Both dragon and orc knew that behind those red eyes of malice was just a cowardly foe no better than any other, and feared the strongest sixteen year old dragon in the land.

Landing as the two approached the village, Drake flinched with every step he took, shaking violently every few minutes as another wave of pain rippled through his body, making his heart beat faster and his front leg throb dramatically. As he continued to go on, he felt certain areas of his body go numb, and his vision slowly began to fade into a haze of colour. He took off, in attempt to lessen the pain, but began to lose control over himself, and flapped harder, trying to keep flight, but to no avail. He began spiralling down, and felt his head collide with the ground, and saw a red liquid flow in front of him, blood; his blood.

Roza froze as Drake hit the floor, and for moment stood in shock, taking a while to realise what had just happened. She stared for a moment, then came to his side, even though she dreaded being close to him. She bent down on her front legs by him, and then eventually brought her back legs down too, her wings settling by her sides as she watched the blood flowing through the wound. She didn't know what she could do, and felt helpless just staying beside him, but she knew better than to just walk off and leave him to die alone.

Edging closer to him, she spoke, "Can you hear me, Drake?"

All that came in reply was a quiet moan, as he let his eyes gently close, as Roza continued to stare. She tried to call upon the Chaotix Magic she possessed, but she didn't have the strength. She shook her head and pressed it gently against the floor; trying not to let the tears she held back escape.

She didn't know how long she stayed there with him, nor why she had done so, but after a while; she began to feel another presence around her. Lifting her head gently from the floor, she realised that she was lying in blood, a pool which was very slowly growing larger. She took to her feet, and looked around her. All she could see were the many scattered corpses of orcs and dragons, decaying in their hundreds, no signs of life could be seen, but still she felt something was there.

"Is anyone there?" she called out, her eyes frantically darting from left to right. No reply came other than the caw of a crow above. Temporarily taking her mind off of Drake, and his current condition, she walked a few meters away, where she closed her eyes and began listening to the wind.

'_That crow may be noisy',_ she thought to herself, _'but its presence wouldn't have been so recognisable. Something else is out there, somewhere.'_

The presence felt stronger around her as she sat there, as if something was moving ever closer to her. She tried to listen for sounds of movement, but only the faint caw of the now distant crow could be heard, other than the gentle whisper of the wind. She smiled a little, somewhat happy even though disaster was clearly around her. Her scales became warm, as if the Sun above was directing its full attention on her, ignoring all others in this world.

After a small while, Roza began to feel her blood boil. Heating up ever so quickly under her grey scales, until eventually she felt as if someone had set fire to her insides. She opened her eyes, but couldn't see a thing. Darkness was all around her, and something, a dancing shadow was rapidly rushing around her. She looked to her side, but couldn't see anything. No ground, no sky, no Drake.

"Who are you?" Roza called out, "What do you want?"

The dancing shadow let out a laugh, with his cold, shrill voice, the dragoness flinched.

"I am your worst nightmare," he said sternly, clicking his translucent fingers, and letting a small flame erupt from the tips, yet it did not make any attempt to burn him, "And I want you to visit my Master."

Roza used her ice breath to immediately put out the flame, and froze the shadows fingers in place, and then asked, "Master?"

The shadow frowned, lit up another flame; just enough to melt the ice, then put it out. He flew above the dragoness, and looked her over, "Yes, yes. My Master isn't very happy with you, or that _beast_."

Roza thought for a moment, "You are from orcs side, aren't you?"

The shadow chuckle with malice, "Indeed, I am. We are the superior, and _destroyed_ your race in the heat of battle."

"You didn't destroy us!" she yelled back, slowly filling with rage, and arching her back, "And you are definitely not superior over the dragons."

The shadow lowered himself to Roza, so the two were eye level, and simply said, "You want to bet?"

"Indeed I do," she replied.

The shadow gave a grin, raised his arms, and dashed through Rozas chest, emerging from her back. The dragoness' eyes rolled back in her head, as she fell backwards, and was engulfed in total darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Drake groaned as pain surged up his leg, thoughts of the battle coming to mind. He opened his eyes, having to crack dried blood in his attempt. He sat up in a large straw bed, with a large pillow, coated with blood beneath him. His leg was bandaged, and throbbed wildly whenever he tried to move it, even just a little.

He was in a wooden room, very large both in length and width. There was a tattered curtain hanging over the door, and several more over the windows, which were no more than just a simple whole cut out of the wood. He noticed one other was in the room with him, with a battered body. He froze as his eyes slowly made out the delicate form of a female beneath the damage. He rose from the bed, limping slightly, but trying not to put any weight on to his injured leg. It felt as if he was taking an eternity to get there, but eventually he felt his feet brush against the straw bed, he was there.

His breath caught in his throat as he noticed how badly this one had been beaten. Bruises covered her body from head to toe, and her scales had been stained black, and several places red from the dried blood which covered her. He hesitated for a moment, and lifted his front leg, stretched one claw forward, to the side of the females face, and gently pulled away a small amount of dirt from her face, and saw the grey scales he of all dragons would clearly recognise, it was Roza. Guilt panged against his heart, as he gently sat down beside her bed, that one claw still pressed gently against her face. He didn't know what had happened to get her into such a bad state, but he knew that it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't of helped him. He slid his claw down her face, making not to catch her eye on the sharp tip, and gently used it to lift her chin. Her face was calm, and peaceful. As if beneath it didn't lie a painful tale that only she could know. He with drew his hand and lowered his head, taking his eyes off of the dragoness.

Taking to his feet once more, he limped across the room to the door, and gently pulled back the curtain, opposite Rozas' bed. He looked out, at the bright sky, it must be around noon. He saw many of the younger dragons running around merrily, and playing games, free from the wrath of the dark side for yet another day. He smiled to himself, glad to see that his injuries meant safety, and kept harm away from the young ones.

"Drake, you're alright!" someone called out to him. He turned to his right to see a green dragoness bounding towards him.

"Hey Kaida," he said, slightly startled.

"I can't believe this, it's like a miracle," she said softly, placing her head against his neck, "I've been so worried about you."

"Worried?" he said confused, "why?"

He looked down at the dragoness resting against him. She had recently turned fifthteen years old. She was a smaller dragon than most, and belonged to a rare race known as the Wind Weavers. Her scales were a soft green, and she had delicate wings, like a butterfly, and around her neck hung a small heart shaped locket, which Drake had given her.

Kaida gently closed her pink eyes, and spoke quietly, "Do you have any idea how bad your injuries were the night you were found?"

"No, I don't," he replied.

"That night, everyone one was certain that your funeral would be in no less than a week," she said, trying to hold back tears.

Drake put his front leg around her neck and held her close, and simply said; "I'm sorry, for putting you through this."

"It's not your fault," she said, burying her head against his chest, "It's the orcs."

"I'm going to go lie down for a bit," Drake said after a few minutes.

"Okay, I'll come see you later," Kaida replied, then turned around and left.

The ice blue dragon stood there for a few minutes longer, before going back indoors. He sank against the wall, thinking things through. His life, he was devoted of taking care of the village now, it wasn't as if he had a choice. Once you reached sixteen that was it; your life was practically decided for you. There was only one dragon in the village who kept him going, who made him want to strive further, to work harder; and that was Kaida.

He shook his head, trying to get these thoughts of not having control over his life out of his mind. He had plenty of control, it was the orcs who kept him from doing what he went, not anyone else. He decided right there and then, that he would destroy the orcs, himself.

Drake eased himself away from the wall, his back ached, and he could clearly see it was after nightfall. He took his time, slowly coming back into reality, but was more or less startled, when he opened his eyes to see two squabbling dragonesses in front of him.

"Why else would you have gone out there? Stop hiding things from me!" Kaida yelled loudly, tears of fury streaming down her face.

"I'm not hiding anything," Roza said weakly, who was now supported by several pillows, "I don't even like him."

The green scaled dragoness saw Drake awake, and immediately came to his side, and leaned him towards him, and said, "What is it with her?"

"Calm down, Kaida," he said softly, "To be honest, I think it's time you left."

She opened her mouth to protest, but Drake held up a hand, and sternly said, "Now."

The short dragoness left, growling as she did so, and Drake pulled the tattered curtain across the door.

He limped slowly to Rozas' bedside, and sat down on the floor beside her, "Are you alright?"

Roza eyed him over lazily, just wishing to be left alone, "I'm fine."

"You don't need to lie to me," Drake replied, looking into her emerald hued eyes, which were slightly murky, hiding her past life, her life before the village. He could still remember that day ever so clearly, where she was carried, unconscious to the village by one of the Elders. No one knew about her past life, what had happened during the incident, and why she wouldn't tell a soul. She kept everything well hidden, and bottled up inside, apart from one thing, her hatred for others.

"Leave me alone," she groaned, when she noticed he wasn't buying it, "I don't want to speak to you."

Knowing that she was unable to move because of the injuries, Drake sighed, and made his way across the room to his own bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Morning, Drake," a nurse said as she approached him, placing a newspaper on the floor next to him, and a small breakfast, "You've been out for hours, and you still look shattered."

"Thanks, Sierra," he said to the twenty three year old skunk before him, even though she looked a little concerned, "Something wrong?"

Sierra eyed him over, uncertain, and slightly worried, but just shook her head and went outside.

Drake sighed and picked up the newspaper, flicking through the pages trying to find something interesting, which didn't take him to long, because on the ninth page, in large letters read; "Dragoness Attacked In Dreams".

"_Fifthteen year old Roza Driftwood was attacked via spirits on the last day of the War, in the land of her own imagination. We have been unable to confront the victim on this subject, due to what could be fatal damage. Miss Driftwood is now healing slowly in the village clinic."_

"Hurt – by dreams?" Drake said slowly as he carefully read over the article, "That is impossible."

"No, it isn't," a feminine voice whispered, and it only took one guess to know who it was talking. He glanced over at her black body, destroyed, bruised, burnt. Her face lay calm, as she stared up at the murky ceiling above, not even once trying to look at him. He sighed, even though he was worried, how could something of happened to her, in her dreams? She had come out a complete state, due to something which had physically been impossible, until now.

"How did it happen?" he asked, placing the newspaper to one side, and lifting a bowl full of foul smelling green liquid, also known as 'breakfast'.

"That isn't any of your business," she stated rudely, "You of all dragons would be the last I'd tell."

Drake took to his feet, and walked over to her bed, and stared down at her, scowling, "Why do you always have to be so negative?"

Roza stared hard at the muscular dragon, looking over him in a nervous fashion. She closed her eyes and half buried her head in the pillow beneath her; half of her face was still visible.

The dragon investigated her face; it was full of anger, hatred, and frustration. Her claws were pressed sharply against her scales, as if like clenched fists, and her shoulders were pressed tight against her body. He knew she was uncomfortable with him watching over her so closely, and turned away, and slowly made his way to the door, pulling back the tattered curtain, and sitting down outside, just to it's right.

It was evening when a quiet voice approached him, and the curtains old material danced as it was pulled back on the railing, and a dark body stepped out, as delicately formed as the Moon itself, as it slowly came into view. The faint scent of flowers wafted along in the breeze, making the air smell fresh, and natural. The crickets chirped in unison as her voice, high and sorrowful, sounded in the darkness.

"Drake…" it said softly, as a hand was placed on his slouched shoulders, claws pressing gently against his hard scales, sharing a small amount of warmth, "You cannot tell anyone what I'm about to say."

His eyes focused on the ground in front of him as he half listened to the kind voice he was hearing; he simply replied, "I won't tell a soul."

The dragoness drew back her hand, and sat down beside him, her grey scales glowing silver in the now full moon. Her eyes shown like a meadow of green, flowers upon flowers stretching for miles, as if the Suns rays were shining down on them.

"You collapsed that night, from your injuries," she began, "I stood within a close radius of five or ten meters, giving you peace. That was when I realised someone was there, but with my eyes open, I couldn't hear nor see him, so I closed my eyes, and he appeared."

She paused for a few moments, "That was when he attacked, ripping through my body without pain, and then I awoke in the hospital, being accused by your girlfriend…"

Drake ignored the last few words, "Was the spirit on the orcs side?

"Indeed he was, and apparently," she paused, "their leader wants me."

The dragon froze, "Why you?"

Roza stood up, and looked down at Drake, "I don't know, but I feel I must go."

"You can't!" Drake immediately protested.

"I can, and I must," she said softly, "For the safety of the village."

"Then I'm going with you," he said sternly, "I can't let you go alone, it's dangerous out there."

Feeling the hatred begin to rise, she turned to leave, and said, "We leave at dawns break."


End file.
